Instead of giving league MVP candidate Aaron
Rodgers another shot, LaFleur sent on kicker Mason Crosby to
narrow the deficit to five, betting that with three time-outs
and the two-minute warning to come his defense would get the
ball back.
He was wrong.
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady ran out the clock to wrap up
the game 31-26 and take his team to the Super Bowl, leaving
LaFleur with nothing but regret.
"Anytime it doesn't work out, you always regret it," he told
reporters. "It was just the circumstances of having three shots
and coming away with no yards and knowing that you not only need
the touchdown but you need the two-point.
"The way I was looking at it was we essentially had four
time-outs with the two-minute warning and we knew we needed to
get a stop," added LaFleur, who joined the team as head coach in
2019.
The Packers trailed 21-10 at the end of the second quarter but
seized the momentum after halftime, intercepting Brady three
times and putting up two touchdowns.
Quarterback Rodgers, who finished with 346 passing yards, three
touchdowns and an interception, was "gutted" by the defeat and
made it clear he did not make the call on the kick.
"I didn't have a decision on that one," said Rodgers, 37, whose
sole Super Bowl victory was a decade ago. "I understand the
thinking, above two minutes with all of our timeouts - but it
wasn't my decision."
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith could not believe what he was
seeing, tweeting: "What the hell is LaFleur doing?"
Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett was also bewildered.
"I couldn't believe it, honestly, because there's no guarantee
that they're going to make it back down there again," he told
reporters.
"I know if he could take it back he probably wouldn't do that,
next time."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|